Say it isn’t so

please tell me it isn’t only Wednesday?

I feel like we are currently in what will go down in history as the longest week ever.

I wish it was “Jersday” for more reasons than 1!

Now, let’s talk food:

Last night I perfected my art of homemade pizza.  Using one whole wheat pizza dough and one garlic and herb pizza dough from Trader Joe’s I crafted a pretty amazing pizza experience.  Trader Joe’s dough, after sitting at room temp for 20 minutes, easily rolled into the rectangular shape I needed to fit the pan.

Of course I used what all classy cooks used to roll it out:

A wine bottle!  Hey, it works 😉

The pizza was divine.  If you haven’t tried Trader Joe’s garlic and herb dough you must.  The trick I used is to brush the dough with olive oil and throw it in the oven for 10ish minutes before adding the sauce and cheese.  The crust came out so crispy.  We also had Alexia Waffle fries on the side.

After an uneventful bootcamp last night, I woke up feeling famished and new that a smoothie was just not going to cut it today.  I had a headache for the second day in a row which was either because I didn’t start my day with a coffee or my breakfast wasn’t great.  Today I had two blueberry Van’s Waffles with peanut butter and a half of a banana.  Yum.

I enjoyed this gooey baby with a french vanilla iced coffee from Dunks.

Dinner tonight, which I am eating as I type, is marinated chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese.

I de-goobered the chicken (i.e. took off the slimy, fatty parts) Sunday and froze it with some left over Newman’s Own Teriyaki.  The mac and cheese was Annie’s brand, similar to Velveeta shells and cheese, but not so salty.

Oh ya, and I tried a glass of this fun vino.  It is a Garnacha that is about $12 a bottle.  Price doesn’t mean it is good or bad, but I am still yet to find a red (besides Merlot) that I don’t like).

For some reason I LOVE the fact that the cork was black.  I don’t think I have ever seen a black cork.  Kind of reminds me of a giraffe’s tongue..

Tonight I got a pleasant surprise to find Tristan subbing for John at CrossFit.  The workout was very unpleasant (this had nothing to do with Tristan I assure you, he is awesome).  By unpleasant I mean hard as F*@k.  Pardon my French but holy crap!  First, let me preface by saying that this is my third class this week and I did run 4.2 miles Sunday.

Ok, today’s WOD was as follows:

Strength: 5×5 deadlifts

8 minutes each, AMRAP

ROUND 1

1. 10 box jumps (20 in box)
2. 10 KB swings

ROUND 2

1. 15 thrusters (35lbs)
2. 15 burpees

ROUND 3

1. 20 double unders (I did 60 singles)
2. 10 toes to bar (I did a toes to air variation)

I started with ROUND 3, then 1, then finished up with 2.  By the time I got to my final round, which I feel needed the most exertion of all, I had almost nothing left to give.  Thrusters are hard after hanging on a bar and doing kb swings!  In 8 minutes I managed to complete:

• 4 rounds of double unders/toes to bar
• 6 +some of box jumps/KB swings
• 2+some thrusters/burpees

I am totally burpee-d out this week and am totally looking forward to a day off from physical activity tomorrow.

It is getting close to my bed time so I gots to be going.

~L

Take a hike, or a nature walk

WARNING: This post has a lot of pictures…but smile, the post could be way worse 🙂

Saturday morning I woke up feeling refreshed.  I actually slept like a log and woke up around 9.  I always get worried when I go away that I will either sleep too long or not long enough.  I stress over what I will do if I wake up too early and hate the thought that I would hold everyone up.  Since I slept of the murphy bed (which pulls down from the living room wall) I knew that movement of the ladies would wake me!

Breakfast was pancakes.  I heart pancakes for breakfast.  Since the beginning of the summer I have been super lazy with my breakfast, often just eating an energy bar or waiting until lunch so I forgot how much I missed these babies.

Amy mixed the batter and I cooked them up.  I always cook my pancakes in butter.  I love the crispy edges they get when they cook that way.  When I was younger I used to LOVE when my dad made us pancakes because he would put chocolate chips in them.  Since I was on vacation, and had none available to me (I did contemplate adding some cookie dough), I settled for a yogurt on the side.

Stonyfield Key Lime is delicious.

After breakfast we got dressed, jumped in the cars, and cruised to our hiking spot for the day which was about 5 minutes from the resort.  The trail was a very flat, very straight, 3 mile walk to some natural water slides and pools.  I was looking forward to an easier hike than Friday’s.

Amy, Me, Andrea, Maria, Devon

The path was soooo straight.  We literally saw this for 3 miles (each way!)

We kept ourselves entertained, don’t worry!  First, we stopped and checked out a log that had fallen across the rocks in the river.

Amy is a daredevil!

Then we came across this nifty sign:

Fun!  We all immediately stopped talking to count (in our heads) how many paces were in 200ft.  I forget exactly but I want to say it was like 80-something for me.

End 200ft.....

And then we came to a bridge, which we didn’t have to cross…….

so we took a picture on the rocks in front of it.  See, we were very entertained 😉

When we got to the natural slides the sun was not out (so it was chilly) and the water wasn’t too high.  We took some time to enjoy the scenery.

I liked taking pictures of the moving water with my camera on “sport” mode.  It looks like it is still moving!

I snacked on a Dulce de Dulce Luna Bar around noon.  These are fantastically sweet and satisfying.

I built some rock piles…..

I am uber talented..don't hate

Amy did some heavy lifting…..

Devon cheered on Maria as she “slid” down a non-slippery rock….

Andrea jumped right into the very frigid water……

Everyone took turns sliding down a very steep, slippery rock…..

ok, everyone but me (yes I am a chicken) slid down that rock….I took pics!

After nature-walking 6 miles and taking so many damn pictures, I couldn’t wait for a local wine shop’s wine tasting that night!  We had eaten lunch (intentionally) in front of The Abbey Cellars after the hike Friday so that is how we found out about it.

The wine tasting featured three red wines and three white wines.  I tried all six because the pours were so small I felt like I just had to.  We tried to talk up the lady but I think she was a wine snob and referenced hundred-dollar bottles of wine several times.  I will probably never drink a glass of wine from such an expensive bottle and I am ok with that.  Free wine that night tasted like a million bucks!

Before going to bed I told Amy that I really wished we could get a couple of days of rain so I can spend a lazy Sunday doing nothing and a productive few days in my classroom.  Rain definitely makes it easier to return to school.  Famous last words because what followed was FOUR freakin’ days of rain in the Boston area.  What a waste of the last week of summer!

Anyway, we woke up Sunday to the fire alarm blasting throughout the hotel.  We got evacuated and stood in the rain (well under the awning in front) for quite sometime before they let us back in and apologized for the “false alarm”.

Girl’s weekend= a must to get through the fall/winter/spring

peace out

~L

Les Zygomates Part 2: The Food

So last night’s wine tasting festivities definitely wouldn’t have ended on a good note if we hadn’t eaten.  6 glasses of wine throughout the tasting and a couple of beers before without any food would’ve been trouble.  And I wasn’t in any mood for trouble.

So it should be no surprise that grabbing a bite to eat was first on our minds (even when we are not tasting wine food is the first thing on our minds 🙂 ).

I met Carney and Casey in South Boston at the restaurant The Playwright for some apps and beers before.

The Playwright is right on Broadway and I got a primo parking spot right in front, which is a signal to me that the night was going to be fabulous.

I had two Harpoon White’s while we were there.  Served with an orange, yum!

For appetizers we got the Buffalo Chicken Dip which is served with tri-colored tortilla chips, celery, and carrots.  This stuff is addicting and soooooo delicious.  I have been to the Playwright three times and have gotten all three times!  It is a must try!

We also got an order of the Rattlers, which is kind of like a rolled up chicken quesidillia.  It was a flour tortilla filled with grilled chicken and jack and cheddar cheeses.  It was served with ranch dressing and a really spicy Habanero sauce on the side.

At the wine tasting (to my surprise) there was also a live food demonstration with the head chef of Les Zygmoates.  I went to a tasting here before and all we had was crackers, grapes, and cheese so this was a fun twist on the tasting.

The live demonstration was to make a salsa verde-type sauce to accompany one of the 4 meats we would be pairing with the wines.

He used all fresh ingredients and the room smelled like fresh herbs as he was pureeing the sauce in the blender.  He used:

• mint
• flat leaf parsley
• basil
• lemon juice and zest
• capers packed in sea salt
• 4 anchovies (yup, anchovies, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this)
• 2 cloves garlic
• a whole bunch of EVOO
• white pepper

The result?

It was kind of like a really salty pesto (and no, I couldn’t taste the anchovies, thank goodness).  We tried a bit with a spoon and dipped some bread in it too.  the true reason for the salsa verde, though, was to top off the lamb portion of the pairing menu.

For the tasting menu we received a small, tappas-style portion of four different meats to pair with the four different wines.  Just like the wines, we were to pair the food, going clockwise with the wines.

entrée 1: Asian Salmon Tartar to be paired with the Charles Smith “Kung Fu Girl” Riesling

It was pureed salmon with  lemon grass and shallots.  I didn’t try this one.  I just wasn’t feeling that daring, and I am not a fish person.  Carney did try it and said it was tasty but the texture was mushy and not appetizing to her.

entrée 2: Chicken stewed with tarragon and cooked in chicken stock for added flavor, to be paired with Ridge Crest Chardonnay

I feel like you can’t usually go wrong with chicken, so I tried happily tried it (even though it was on a bone).  It was super moist and had a fresh flavor.

entrée 3: A Lamb Chop to be paired with the Hyatt Vineyards “Estate” Syrah

It was kind of bloody but very tender.And guess what…I tried it!

Just kidding, I tried it but I wasn’t THAT excited to try it!  I cut off a little bite to eat with a fork.

It tasted similar to roast beef (and I forgot to put that salsa verde on it so maybe it would’ve been tastier) so not too bad.  However, I don’t like roast beef too much so I feel the same way about lamb.  Good news is that it isn’t as nasty as I previously thought it would be.  Yeah for big steps and trying crazy things 🙂

entrée 4: Cheese made with moldy bread A French take on Blu Cheese to be paired with Hyatt Vineyards “Estate” Cabernet Sauvignon

I forget the actual name of the type of cheese, but it was described as the French’s take on Blu Cheese.  The chef even stressed the fact that you can “see the moldy bread” in the cheese.  Ewwww, that is supposed to make it appealing to people?  I am not a fancy cheese person but after trying lamb (and 4 glasses of wine) I didn’t have anything to lose.  I took a small piece of the tip, smeared it on the bread, and…almost threw up.  I felt like I was on fear factor.  It had a very smoky, gross flavor that I don’t care to taste again.

I stuck with several sliced of bread and butter and some water the get the taste out of my mouth.

The food was an experience in and of itself!  Most of the other people licked their plates clean (though many had finished their wine before the food came out so that may have something to do with it).

It was a great night and a perfect way to celebrate.  CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!

Me, Uncle Brian, Carney, Casey 2008

and I’m out.

~L